


Up All Night - Lovely Wife

by Joycee



Series: Psych [4]
Category: White Collar
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Psychologists & Psychiatrists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-21
Updated: 2015-07-21
Packaged: 2018-04-10 10:19:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4388087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joycee/pseuds/Joycee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neal seduces Elizabeth to spite Peter, almost tipping the balance in their complex relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Up All Night - Lovely Wife

Neal was relieved when he discovered that Peter had not followed up with Dr. Lilly, Neal’s psychiatrist. They had gone undercover to help solve an interesting art fraud case without any difficulties. Neal thought of himself as being back to normal and was ready to tell the doctor he didn’t need any further treatment.

So when Peter casually asked Neal if he could keep El company for a lunch date Peter was going to have to miss because he had to see Dr. Lilly, Neal’s head came up in surprise. He said as calmly as he could manage, “I didn’t realize this was going to be a regular thing for you.”

Peter said, “It’s not…I don’t think. I just agreed to see her again to discuss some things.”

“About me,” Neal said, irritably. “I really don’t like not being a party to discussions when the subject is me.”

“It’s not just about you, Neal,” Peter started, “It’s about you and me together.” He stopped, immediately regretting his words.

Neal shrugged, studiously avoiding Peter’s eyes, and said casually, “Well, you know me, I have no secrets from you or the doctor.”

Neal met El at the Italian bakery where he had purchased the sweets the night they got high. She wanted to check it out for her catering business. He was still feeling prickly, but her warm manner and pretty face calmed him down quickly. 

The two of them sampled dessert wines and fancy pastries and flirted shamelessly. Before long, they were a little tipsy and giggling and trading stories about Peter and his little habits that they found endearing.

After passing a pleasant hour in the restaurant, Neal walked El to her car. She took his arm proprietarily and leaned into him. They stopped to look in shop windows and commented on the new fashions they saw.

When they reached her car, Neal put his arms around her and bent down for a romantic kiss on her lips. “Whew,” El said, “That went right to my head!”

Neal smiled down at her tenderly, his beautiful blue eyes mirroring her own, his arms still around her. “You taste as good as you did the other night,” he purred, licking his lips lazily.

“This is so much fun. Do they really need you at work this afternoon?” El asked playfully.

“I could call Peter and ask,” he suggested, smiling at her sweetly. “If not, you could come over to my place for a little while….”

Elizabeth stretched up to kiss him quickly. “Oh, let’s not ask and not tell, Neal. What do you say?” But Neal already had his phone to his ear.

“Peter,” he drawled, “I’m having such a wonderful time with your wife. Do I have to come back to work today or can I entertain her at my place until you get off work?”

“Can you what? No, Neal, you may not! Let me speak to El.” Peter responded.

“Awww,” Neal said and handed his phone to El. She pouted prettily and then sighed, “Hi Hon, Neal and I just had the best time at the bakery.”

“Without me?” Peter asked, sounding every bit as jealous as he felt.

“Hon, all we did was sample some of their wine and desserts,” she protested.

“Well, that was plenty,“ Peter replied. “That’s what I get for letting Neal fill in for me with you while I met with his psychiatrist.”

Suddenly sober, El said, “Oh, you did? Does he know that?”

“Do I know what?” Neal asked teasingly, trying to grab the phone away unsuccessfully. She hung up and turned to face him, handing his phone back. 

His mood changed as he said quietly, “Yeah, I know what Peter was doing while we were playing. I guess I’d better get back to work so he doesn’t tell on me.”

“Oh, I’m sure it’s not like that,” El said. 

“Are you? I’m not,” Neal said. “Well, thanks for a fun lunch break. Drive carefully.” And he helped her into her car and waved as she drove away.

With a vision of Neal rubbing icing on his wife’s lips and kissing it off, Peter felt unreasonably upset with Neal, even though Peter had been the one to ask him to keep Elizabeth company. 

He’d just had an unsettling conversation with Dr. Lilly and everything suddenly seemed much more complicated. When Neal got back, Peter tried to avoid him by staying busy with paperwork in his office.

At Neal’s next appointment with the doctor, he let her know that he was uncomfortable with her talking to Peter without him being there. It was the most genuine feeling she had seen from him since his breakdown and she told him so.

Confused, Neal mused, “So was this some kind of scheme to get me upset?”

“Of course not, Neal,” Dr. Lilly said. “But I’m convinced that you have a level of feeling that you rarely show unless you are in crisis. I’d like to help you explore those feelings in a safer context.”

Neal said lightly, “Maybe you’ll have to treat me with MDMA again to bring them out.” He was surprised when she replied thoughtfully, “Yes, maybe.”

Then she assured him that she would not meet with Peter again without Neal’s permission. She noted with interest that Neal did not bring up the pot smoking experience with the Burkes that Peter had discussed with her. 

It confirmed her suspicion that he was keeping his most important feelings from her, and possibly from himself. As Neal left her office, Dr. Lilly sighed and realized that she had waded into a very complex situation that she hoped she would be able to help resolve without a crisis for Neal.

When Dr. Lilly called Peter to tell him of Neal’s preference that Peter not visit her without Neal being present, he found himself disappointed. At his last meeting with the doctor (while Neal was off having fun with Peter’s wife) he had opened up to her about how his sexual relationship with Neal had developed gradually and progressed to its current fever pitch. 

He was relieved to be able to discuss all his conflicting feelings about it. The only other person he could really talk to was his wife, who was understanding to a fault, but hardly objective. In fact, some of Peter’s feelings consisted of his jealous concern about what El’s feelings for Neal were, and vice versa.

While Diana was well aware of their relationship, she only referred to it obliquely unless she felt it was interfering with work. Peter had a clear memory of Diana saying to him in frustration, as Neal was being taken from their hotel room to the hospital by ambulance, “Peter, this has to stop now. You and Neal. This.” He had answered, “I know. You’re right. I just don’t know how.”

Peter told Dr. Lilly, “I’m sorry. I found our conversation helpful.”

She replied, “I did too, but Neal is my patient first and I owe him a right to the privacy he’s asking for. You are the one who referred Neal to me, so I’m sure you understand that it is important for him to trust me.”

The doctor went on to say, “Of course, if you can get Neal’s permission, I will be glad to meet with you again, or perhaps I’ll have another opportunity to see you together sometime.”

Peter really liked the idea of that, so he brought it up the next time he was alone with Neal.

Neal squirmed and said, “Really Peter, I think I’m about through with therapy.”

That led to a disapproving look from Peter and an unfortunate comment to the effect that he had never known anyone who needed therapy more than Neal did. 

Neal responded sarcastically, “Sorry I’m so fucked up, Dr. Freud. You, on the other hand, are a paragon of uncomplicated mental health.”

Peter ended up stomping off, feeling guilty and exasperated. As usual, Neal tried to bury his feelings, with only partial success. Both men felt depressed about the whole thing, but they had important work to do at the office.

As their personal conflict escalated, the entire White Collar section felt out of sorts. With an important new operation going into the final planning stages, Diana and Jones began to be apprehensive. Their team had to be firing on all cylinders to pull it off successfully.

Diana finally went to Peter in his office and said, “When Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”

He looked up, surprised, and then hung his head and said, “Oh.” She arched her brow and asked, “So?”

Peter tried to explain how he and Neal had been working with a psychiatrist to understand their relationship and put some limits on it.

“Are you sure that’s what Neal’s doing, too, Boss?” she said skeptically. “Because you are the leader of this team and everyone on it can feel the tension.”

Peter just shrugged and said, “Diana, I’m doing the best I can. It’s a difficult situation.”

She told him, “You better get your head in the game or someone is going to get hurt! This isn’t a damn soap opera, Peter.”

Feeling uncomfortable, Peter again avoided Neal as unobtrusively as he could manage, but Neal was not fooled. He was hurt.

Neal left early without bothering to make an excuse. Jones assured Peter that Neal’s anklet showed him to be at home at June’s. Peter called El to tell her he would be late. He felt a little guilty that he hadn’t told her why as he drove to Neal’s apartment.

Peter parked and went upstairs, pausing for a moment before knocking. The plaintive sound of Janice Ian drifted out, “ _Up all night, Lovely wife, You have a lovely wife; And in the Winter, extra blankets for the cold; Fix the heater, growing old; You are with her, now I know, I’ll live alone forever, not together, now._ ” 

Tears sprang to his eyes and Peter turned around soundlessly and went back down the stairs to his car. Inside, Neal had quickly dried his eyes as he heard the welcome sound of Peter’s steps coming up the stairs, but the silent tears returned as he heard him go back down.

After a sleepless night, Neal called Dr. Lilly in the morning and told her he needed to talk. He also called Elizabeth and made another lunch date with her.

Neal was becoming increasingly obsessed with Elizabeth. He felt so good in her company. He felt admired and accepted rather than criticized and rejected as he often did with Peter. He found himself fantasizing that Elizabeth was his wife instead of Peter’s - that Peter was the odd man out who had to be invited in and then return home alone, while Neal had the stable marriage and comfortable home.

In a way, it had always been his dream to find the right mate and build a blissful domestic life with her. That had been a big part of his imagined future with Kate, no matter how unrealistic it might have been.

Neal enjoyed sex with men and women, but until Peter, he had only loved women. As much as he valued Peter on a professional level, an emotional level, and god yes, a physical level, he began craving love from Elizabeth. And for Neal to feel loved, there had to be a physical merging that transcended conversation.

Neal and Peter had kissed and caressed each other in Elizabeth’s presence, and he had occasionally shared kisses and hugs with her, but there had never been any intimation that he could make love to her, and he had never tried to.

Now, Neal began to fantasize about that soft smooth skin, those supple breasts and generous hips being under him with those beautiful big blue eyes looking up at him with devotion. He imagined what it would be like to kiss every inch of her and breathe in her perfume, to feel her get wet and hot under his caresses, to make her cry out in ecstasy as he licked and sucked her pussy, and finally to fuck her senseless and come inside her.

It was Elizabeth who most often came into his mind recently when he jerked off, leaving him feeling a little guilty, but deeply satisfied, too. He liked to pretend he was falling asleep in her arms.

Neal and Elizabeth met at his suggestion in a cozy little restaurant in the Village. It had a quirky and intimate atmosphere that was perfect for an illicit tryst, although that was not what their lunch date was supposed to be.

Elizabeth responded to Neal’s flattering attention the same way most people did. He made her feel attractive, witty, appreciated, and sexy. The man was so damn perfect in his looks, his dress, his manners, his taste, his conversation. He focused on her intensely and pleasing her seemed to be his highest priority. Yet it was never too much. 

Neal was fun to be with. He came on to her just enough to be thrilling, but not so much as to be threatening or indecent. It felt like flirting on a whole new level. He always left her wanting just a little more.

Elizabeth found herself daydreaming about going places and doing things with Neal. For the first time, Neal was more than just the attractive man that her husband had chased and courted for years, an amiable friend who sometimes needed a little feminine sympathy. 

El had always thought of Neal as a gay man, in spite of her awareness of his love for Kate and various affairs with women. Now he began to touch her and kiss her in a more sexual way than he ever had and she was responding to him in a definitely heterosexual way. She suddenly understood more about what Peter had with Neal and she began to think she should have been a lot more jealous.

When Neal met with Dr. Lilly, he was still on an emotional high from his wonderful afternoon with Elizabeth. Although he only hinted at his feelings for Peter’s wife to the doctor, she picked up on them immediately and felt a terrible sense of alarm.

In spite of Neal’s legitimate craving for romantic love, Dr. Lilly could not imagine a more disastrous move for Neal than seducing Peter’s wife. She felt fairly sure he would be jeopardizing his relationship with both Elizabeth and Peter and he would be risking something he could not afford to lose. 

The doctor also realized that the usually sensitive and astute Neal was blind to his own complex motivations. It was clear to her that Neal was seeing Elizabeth as a means to coping with the power imbalance in his relationship with Peter.

“Why do you suppose you are suddenly so attracted to Elizabeth after knowing her for so long?” Dr. Lilly asked Neal.

When he struggled to come up with an answer, the doctor asked, “Do you suppose it could have anything to do with what we’ve been talking about recently in terms of your relationship with Peter?”

Neal’s eyes flashed and he asked, “Do you mean am I trying to use Elizabeth to get back at Peter?”

“Something like that crossed my mind,” Dr. Lilly said lightly.

“Do you really think I would do something like that?” Neal asked testily. “Can’t I just want Elizabeth because of the wonderful person she is? Does everything have to have something to do with Peter?”

“But this does have everything to do with Peter, doesn’t it?” the doctor pressed.

When Neal sighed and looked away, she told him gently, “Be careful, Neal. Some bridges can’t be uncrossed.” Neal nodded thoughtfully. He realized that he didn’t want to hurt Elizabeth, and he didn’t really want to hurt Peter, either.

She watched as Neal recomposed the façade he used to face the world, appreciating that he had let it slip a little by confiding his feelings to her. “I’ll be careful. Thank you, Dr. Lilly. See you next week,” he said with a smile.

Taking a chance, Dr. Lilly asked, “Neal, do you think it might be a good idea for us meet together with Peter?” Neal frowned and hesitated; then he promised, “I’ll think about it.”

Dr. Lilly wished she could talk to Peter’s beautiful wife, too, to complete the picture. The two women had met socially once at an event that Elizabeth had managed and Dr. Lilly remembered her as being pleasant and efficient. 

She wondered how Elizabeth coped with her feelings for the two dynamic men in her life who were so obviously in love with each other. She also wondered whether Elizabeth was faithful in her marriage – and whether she intended to be in the future.

Peter was definitely jealous. He didn’t know what was going on, but he knew he felt threatened in an existential sense by the way his wife and his lover were playing with each other. He realized it might be unfair, but he could never bring himself to share them the way they shared him.

The thought of them together was agonizing. Losing either one of them was unthinkable. Yet they were the two beautiful people, weren’t they? It made sense that they would want each other, but where would that leave him?

Peter began to do and say all the wrong things to both of them and he knew it, but he was threatened to his core. He began to feel desperate. All he seemed to be able to do was fight with them, but that wasn’t what he wanted at all.

Neal mostly stayed out of Peter’s way, but Elizabeth didn’t have that option. Finally, after he picked another fight with her after work one day, she snapped at him, “What is the matter with you, Peter Burke?”

Peter snarked, “I don’t know. Maybe you should ask Neal. He seems to know everything!”

Elizabeth replied, “Hon, I’ve never known you to be so jealous. After everything you and Neal have together, don’t I deserve to enjoy spending a little time with him?”

Peter couldn’t help himself. “Is that what you call it? Spending time together?” he asked nastily.

Elizabeth broke and said, “Do you want to know if I want to have sex with Neal? What if I do?”

Peter was furious. “This is all Neal. He’s upset with me so he’s going to seduce my wife. He always goes too far.”

Elizabeth started to cry, “Because Neal couldn’t possibly see anything in me for myself, is that it? It’s only about you?”

Peter realized too late that he was the one who had gone too far this time. He reached out for her, saying, “No, Hon, wait….” But she ran out of the house and he saw her drive off.

Peter put his head in his hands and cried, “Oh, what I have done now?”

Neal heard the small footsteps coming up the stairs and then the tentative knock on his door. He took in a breath and steadied his resolve. He knew he might have to “be cruel to be kind” (as Mozzie put it) as much as he didn’t want to.

Neal opened the door and pretended to be surprised. “Elizabeth,” he said mildly, “What are you doing here?”

Suddenly, El wondered that, too, but she was determined to go through with what she’d started. “Fight with Peter,” she told him. “Can I come in?”

Neal stepped back and said, “Of course, Elizabeth, come in. You know you are welcome here.”

“Am I?” El asked. “Or are you just being nice?”

Neal smiled, “Can’t I be nice to you? You are welcome, Elizabeth.”

She gave him a heartbreaking look of yearning and walked over and sat on his couch. “Neal….,” she started, but he ssshhed her with his fingers to her lips and then kissed her chastely. She sighed and started to press for more but Neal pulled back.

He dropped to his knees and pulled her shoes off and began massaging one of her pretty feet through her stocking. She felt some of her tension drain away and said, “You always know just what to do, Neal.”

Neal’s eyes filled and he looked away. “I’m afraid that’s not true, Elizabeth,” he said softly and put her foot down gently.

“Don’t you want me, Neal?” said Elizabeth in a voice full of doubt.

“El, I’m a gay man,” he lied. “Making love to women is just not my thing.”

“But, Kate. And Sara,” she said, “What about them?”

“I’ve tried to be in love, Elizabeth, but it’s just never worked for me,” he answered, with an element of truth.

“Are you in love with Peter?” she asked him quietly.

“Yes,” he answered simply, “I am.”

“I guess I should be jealous,” she sighed. “I can’t compete with my husband for your love.”

“I wouldn’t want you to,” Neal said, looking at her pretty face. He reached out and played with a lock of her soft dark hair. It was killing him not to take her in his arms and claim her with his lips, his arms, his eager cock, which was betraying him as he sat there.

“I could suck you, Neal,” El said tentatively. “I want to.”

Neal winced as if he’d been struck. He felt like he would explode. He told her softly, “You could. It would be wonderful. The problem is that I’d never want you to stop.”

El gave him a little smile. “I can’t make you happy, Elizabeth,” he said sadly.

“I know,” she replied with a brave face. Then her lips quivered and a tear ran down her face. “I guess I’d better go home now.” Neal tenderly wiped her tear. “Yes,” he said gently.

After Elizabeth left, Neal sat still for a long time. He didn’t cry; he didn’t think. He just let his sadness wash over him – and the satisfaction of knowing he’d done the right thing.

Finally, he whispered, “Oh Peter.” His love for his mentor had never been stronger.

Peter suddenly burst into Neal’s apartment without knocking. “Where is she?” he demanded.

Neal countered him casually, “Lose somebody, Peter?”

Peter didn’t hesitate before throwing a mean right hook to Neal’s jaw. It connected with a sickening noise and knocked Neal off his feet to the ground.

Neal blinked and slowly rubbed his hurt jaw, looking up at Peter. “Feel better now?” he taunted.

In one fluid motion, Peter gathered him up off the floor and pulled him close, stroking his hair and saying, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, oh god, I’m sorry, Neal.”

Neal melted into him with a little cry of satisfaction. He put his arms around Peter and hugged him, saying, “Oh, I’ve been missing you so much.” Then he said, “El went home, Peter. She belongs to you.”

They began to hungrily devour each other in kisses, hands probing and stroking each other’s bodies. After a few minutes, Peter half dragged, half carried Neal over to his bed and lay him down. He pulled Neal’s pants down in a swift motion and then yanked his shirt up. 

As Neal arched back contentedly, Peter tenderly ran his fingers over the bruise he had just made on Neal’s cheek. Peter sat back for a minute to remove his own clothes. Then he made himself comfortable on the floor next to his reclining lover. “Oh god, Neal,” he sighed. “What have you done to me?”

Not wanting to go there, Neal reached over and pulled Peter’s head toward his straining cock. “Suck me, please Peter,” he said. He gave himself over to the blissful ministrations of Peter’s mouth, his hands tangled in his hair and holding on to him tightly.

When he couldn’t stand another second without coming, Neal pulled Peter’s head up. He looked him directly in the eye and said, “I want you to fuck me. Please Peter.”

Peter moaned and grabbed Neal and turned him over. He began kissing his perfect round ass until he was tonguing his tight hole. When he had it thoroughly wet, he began pressing his fingers into Neal, one at a time. His breathing was ragged and he continued to kiss and bite Neal’s spine and ass.

Neal sighed and stretched like a cat, welcoming Peter’s touch in every way. Suddenly he caught his breath as he felt Peter pressing the silky moist head of his penis against Neal’s asshole and slowly entering him. He made a little cry of ecstasy and gave in to him completely.

Peter’s eyes were closed and a look of pure bliss was on his face as he pushed inside Neal and began to rock back and forth. As the sensations spread throughout their bodies, he increased his pace and his depth until they were both in perfect sync.

Peter bent his head to lay his face on his Neal’s back for a moment, and reached under Neal to encircle his throbbing erection. Then at Neal’s urging, he savagely possessed him until Neal screamed out with pleasure. Peter groaned and came inside Neal with a great shuddering thrust.

The two lovers lay still and spent for a few minutes and then Peter slowly withdrew his wet cock and pulled Neal over to lie beside him. “I love you,” Peter said plaintively. “I can’t help it. Please don’t torture me.”

“I need you, Peter,” replied Neal. “I don’t know what to do without you.”

They let the silence lay between them, just enjoying each other’s warmth and momentary peace and then drifted into a brief sleep.

Neal slid out first and went to the bathroom for wet towels. He came back and smiled at Peter as he gently washed him off. “Umm, no condom,” Neal said.

Peter looked chagrined. “Oh god, Neal, I’m sorry,” he said.

Don’t worry,” said Neal. “We’re good. There’s nobody else but you.”

Peter sat up and put his face in his hands. “Not even Elizabeth?” he asked.

“Not even,” Neal replied sadly. He went over and lay on his bed facing the wall so he wouldn’t have to watch Peter get dressed and leave to go home to his lovely wife.

**Author's Note:**

>  _In The Winter_ \- Janis Ian - © Mine Music Ltd./EMI Music Publishing Japan Ltd.
> 
> _The days are okay. I watch the TV in the afternoons. If I get lonely, the sound of other voices, other rooms are near to me. I'm not afraid._   
>  _The operator, she tells the time. It's good for a laugh. There's always radio and for a dime I can talk to God - Dial-a-Prayer. Are you there? Do you care? Are you there?_   
>  _And in the winter, extra blankets for the cold. Fix the heater, getting old. I am wiser now, you know and still as big a fool concerning you._   
>  _I met your friend. She's very nice, what can I say? It was an accident. I never dreamed we'd meet again this way. You're looking well. I'm not afraid._   
>  _You have a lovely home, just like a picture. No, I live alone. I found it easier. You must remember how I never liked the party life, up all night. Lovely wife - you have a lovely wife._   
>  _And in the winter, extra blankets for the cold. Fix the heater, getting old. You are with her now, I know I'll live alone forever, not together now._
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1u1GN2uO6I
> 
>  
> 
> The White Collar characters were created by Jeff Eastin for USA TV.


End file.
